This City Speaks To Me: Photo Book of Melbourne Bohemia

“Industry has moved abreast of art & we now trade culture as capital, Enthusiasm is currency, and here is no better Petri-dish for new forms & expressions of the contemporary than the warehouse. ...a return to the village ...except the candlestick maker, the butcher & the blacksmith are now the zinester, the permaculturalist & community theatre director.”

While the vast majority of us get up every morning, go to work, and earn money to pay the rent or mortgage, some others opted out. Inspired by artistic ideals and the bohemian movements of days gone by, artists, performers and assorted creatives have been reclaiming warehouses and setting up counter-cultural enclaves where they can work among like-minded souls, and by the looks of things, throw some pretty awesome masquerade balls. Bohemianism is thriving, especially in Melbourne.

This City Speaks To Me is the work of British music photographer Luke David Kellet, who spent several years living among Melbourne's bohemian community. Inspired by the artists and their lifestyle, Kellet has created a photobook which  is both a documentary of, and dedication to the raw, wild energy and enthusiasm of the culture and its characters. The fluid, gonzo-esque text from poet Si complement the images and give them a hallucinatory life of their own.

It’s good to see that alternative art and culture are thriving, and even better to see it portrayed so eloquently. As well as the full, print version, a shorter version of the book is available as a free download (NSFW).

This City Speaks To Me